While I can come up with some ideas, I always enjoying finding stuff out from a larger group to catch any hidden gems I may miss, so without a ton of context or knowledge of what's already been suggested, I pose this to you. A friend just finished putting together a new gaming PC after years of missing out, they are now on the hunt for games before the sale ends and games to think about as they move forward into the gaming world again.

I was given this information through separate comments in a conversation.
- RPGs and Action Adventure games like Legend of Zelda
- Grew up on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy
- Baldur's Gate
- Starcraft and Civilization
- Diablo 2

Various friends have already given them some ideas and they already picked up Skyrim.

What other suggestions based on the limited data above would you give?

Grab the Titan Quest key from my list above and give it to them. It's VERY much a Diablo 2 Clone. Grim Dawn and the Van Helsing games are also excellent ARPGs. I've already mentioned my love of Kingdom of Amaldur, but I'll point that out again, as well. Pillars of Eternity is a must-have as well if they liked the Baldur's Gate stuff. I've been enjoying PA: Titans at it's sale price, as well.

Agreed. I will say that unless someone played the Infinity Engine games back in the day and has some fondness for them, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition might be better for scratching that sort of itch with a lower learning curve and more nods to modern UI decisions. To extend Fawst's excellent analogy from page 1, D:OS is more Rogue Squadron and PE is more Flight Simulator of old school CPPGs.

While I can come up with some ideas, I always enjoying finding stuff out from a larger group to catch any hidden gems I may miss, so without a ton of context or knowledge of what's already been suggested, I pose this to you. A friend just finished putting together a new gaming PC after years of missing out, they are now on the hunt for games before the sale ends and games to think about as they move forward into the gaming world again.

I was given this information through separate comments in a conversation.
- RPGs and Action Adventure games like Legend of Zelda
- Grew up on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy
- Baldur's Gate
- Starcraft and Civilization
- Diablo 2

Various friends have already given them some ideas and they already picked up Skyrim.

What other suggestions based on the limited data above would you give?

Grab the Titan Quest key from my list above and give it to them. It's VERY much a Diablo 2 Clone. Grim Dawn and the Van Helsing games are also excellent ARPGs. I've already mentioned my love of Kingdom of Amaldur, but I'll point that out again, as well. Pillars of Eternity is a must-have as well if they liked the Baldur's Gate stuff. I've been enjoying PA: Titans at it's sale price, as well.

Agreed. I will say that unless someone played the Infinity Engine games back in the day and has some fondness for them, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition might be better for scratching that sort of itch with a lower learning curve and more nods to modern UI decisions. To extend Fawst's excellent analogy from page 1, D:OS is more Rogue Squadron and PE is more Flight Simulator of old school CPPGs.

I thought about mentioning Original Sin, but I considered it to have a pretty sharp learning curve itself. That said, it's definitely an excellent game that forces you to plan your every move.

With the new year and now voluntarily unemployed, I'm going to be taking a break from the Gift War. I've removed my card from steam (since I already maxed it), and I wish those brave souls still fighting to carry on with their classy selves.

For those that may see this as a moment of weakness in which to strike. Remember that I am patient and my wrath will fall upon you like the green sale stickers fall across the steam store: Sudden and without rhyme or reason.

But instead I offer you these poor souls to grind down: @Quical has agreed to take over birthday duties and @Karoz will fill in as the drunk gifter.

I make weird crap and put it on the internet!
youtube.com/user/justamusingmyself

@anoffday@chris: waffle king how do you like Dungeon of the Endless? Just noticed it's only $4 and it looks like a pretty interesting puzzle/rpg/rts sort of game from what I've seen of it.
In badge news, still have my last card on trade hold for another 16 minutes... How in the world RNG gave me 5 of one card and 4 of two other cards and still not a single one of several (thanks to traders here I got them).

@Custom Special, Dungeon of the Endless is incredible. It's a potpie of genre types that works incredibly well together. It's turn-based in the sense that nothing happens until you open another door. It's realtime in that depending on what's behind the door things may get hairy for a bit. It's tower defense in that you can set up weapons in rooms, and it's sort of city management (?) in that you have limited power to light up rooms and prevent spawns and setup weapons. You can RTS your heroes around as well. It's got roguelike flavor in the randomness of gear & certain room types and finding heroes and deadly death.

All together, though, it works incredibly well.

I highly recommend skimming the thread for some of the meaty strategy posts by @The Dude With Herpes and others. I'm not great at the game by any measure, but I did go from being terrible to getting by after I read there that heroes are mostly pretty fragile and you want to use them to camp dark rooms and prevent spawns and maybe supplement heavy tower rooms more than DukeNukeming it. Thinking more tower defense and creating long kill rooms with complementary towers and keeping heroes out of melee as much as possible got me far enough to finish a game or two (no mean feat for me with all those floors....)

It's a stylish and distinctive game with a lot to recommend it. If it takes, it's got a powerful one-more-door compulsion like the best turn-based games, but with chaos and a real payoff for thinking up a strategy, trying it out and having it work.

Thanks to @Kendrik for Titan Quest for my friend's new PC gaming collection!

I just sent it over to him - so once he gets back to his PC I'm sure he'll flip out.
(Told him to get his butt on the forums and see the various game suggestions I've been sending over, but I don't know if he made an account yet.)

@anoffday@chris: waffle king how do you like Dungeon of the Endless? Just noticed it's only $4 and it looks like a pretty interesting puzzle/rpg/rts sort of game from what I've seen of it.
In badge news, still have my last card on trade hold for another 16 minutes... How in the world RNG gave me 5 of one card and 4 of two other cards and still not a single one of several (thanks to traders here I got them).

@Custom Special, Dungeon of the Endless is incredible. It's a potpie of genre types that works incredibly well together. It's turn-based in the sense that nothing happens until you open another door. It's realtime in that depending on what's behind the door things may get hairy for a bit. It's tower defense in that you can set up weapons in rooms, and it's sort of city management (?) in that you have limited power to light up rooms and prevent spawns and setup weapons. You can RTS your heroes around as well. It's got roguelike flavor in the randomness of gear & certain room types and finding heroes and deadly death.

All together, though, it works incredibly well.

I highly recommend skimming the thread for some of the meaty strategy posts by @The Dude With Herpes and others. I'm not great at the game by any measure, but I did go from being terrible to getting by after I read there that heroes are mostly pretty fragile and you want to use them to camp dark rooms and prevent spawns and maybe supplement heavy tower rooms more than DukeNukeming it. Thinking more tower defense and creating long kill rooms with complementary towers and keeping heroes out of melee as much as possible got me far enough to finish a game or two (no mean feat for me with all those floors....)

It's a stylish and distinctive game with a lot to recommend it. If it takes, it's got a powerful one-more-door compulsion like the best turn-based games, but with chaos and a real payoff for thinking up a strategy, trying it out and having it work.

I'Il have to check out the thread. Bought it pretty quick after the couple recommendations after my post. I've had it on my radar for a while, watched some plays a long time ago and really liked how it looked. Now I just have to find time to play it!

Four games off the backlog so far in 2016, the most recent being Deadlight. I'm not usually a fan of zombies OR of platform games where you need to repeat sections 10 or 15 times until you get the timing JUST right, but for some reason the two in combination worked well for me.

Also, post-apocalyptic Seattle was pretty neat, and the atmosphere actually benefits from having most of the devastation shown on distant layers; there's a ton of detail in the background that you don't actually interact with, but it really sells the this-is-not-a-happy-place vibe.

I think that the internet has been for years on the path to creating what is essentially an electronic Necronomicon: A collection of blasphemous unrealities so perverse that to even glimpse at its contents, if but for a moment, is to irrevocably forfeit a portion of your sanity.

Xbox - PearlBlueS0ul, Steam
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.

So yeah, Gremlins Inc. I've only played the training, and I think I get it but there's just so much going on in the game. Your cards are constantly switching because you have to use them to move, but also you want to keep certain ones so you have a goal to get gold/industry, but then opponents are switching your cards around and constantly sending you to jail, but then there's an election after some set amount of time that makes someone Gremlin Governor so they don't pay bribes or taxes, and then.... like AGH! The devs need a better tutorial that isn't text box after text box.

Cons:
SO many PvPvE interactions it's confusing
Tutorial needs work
Currently feels like less strategy, more RNG
Little direction in terms of goals besides "Get Industry in any way possible"
Edit - No save in single player challenges >_>

I'm gonna give it a couple more games before I pass on it to the next game, but Armello still takes the cake as far as digital board games go IMO. If you like board games then give it a shot, if not you're probably not missing anything. Thanks again to @Petesalzl for the gift!

somehow i keep ending up with only have one blood line. when the first vanguard starts to die off I stupidly end up having a keep with no children and tons of children from one family. so now this family has two keeps and ugh.

@chrisnl , I just want to say that I'm really enjoying your KOTOR posts. Being able to revisit such a classic, vicariously through your fresh eyes, really is turning out to be extremely enjoyable. Thank you, and I look forward daily to your updates.

So yeah, Gremlins Inc. I've only played the training, and I think I get it but there's just so much going on in the game. Your cards are constantly switching because you have to use them to move, but also you want to keep certain ones so you have a goal to get gold/industry, but then opponents are switching your cards around and constantly sending you to jail, but then there's an election after some set amount of time that makes someone Gremlin Governor so they don't pay bribes or taxes, and then.... like AGH! The devs need a better tutorial that isn't text box after text box.

Cons:
SO many PvPvE interactions it's confusing
Tutorial needs work
Currently feels like less strategy, more RNG
Little direction in terms of goals besides "Get Industry in any way possible"
Edit - No save in single player challenges >_>

I'm gonna give it a couple more games before I pass on it to the next game, but Armello still takes the cake as far as digital board games go IMO. If you like board games then give it a shot, if not you're probably not missing anything. Thanks again to Petesalzl for the gift!

After a couple more games, this thing is way too random for it to be entertaining by yourself in singe player or matchmaking. It is probably fun with friends though.

chrisnl , I just want to say that I'm really enjoying your KOTOR posts. Being able to revisit such a classic, vicariously through your fresh eyes, really is turning out to be extremely enjoyable. Thank you, and I look forward daily to your updates.

Thanks, I'll do my best to keep people appraised of my progress. I haven't played it any yet today since I've been somewhat busy, but I should be talking to Sand People and Jawas soon. Going in without doing any research at all has been interesting, and there are quite a few things I would have done differently if I had known then what I know now. I'm not usually one to replay games (Mass Effect 1 & 2 being notable exceptions . . . hey those are Bioware too!) but I might try out a different approach to the game once I finish the first playthrough or if I just end up in an unwinnable situation (which isn't something you generally have to worry about with more recent games).